Investors on Sunday prepared for a flight to safety after the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites late Saturday evening.
President Trump declared in a televised address on Saturday night that Iran’s three principal uranium enrichment plants had been âcompletely and totally obliterated.â General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Sunday that preliminary battle damage reports showed severe structural damage at each location.
Equity markets had remained calm last week as Israel but also Iran traded missile barrages and President Trump weighed direct U.S. participation. Treasury prices rose. Gold prices rose. Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital, told Reuters, âMarkets will react with alarm.â
Cryptocurrency prices, which trade continuously, signaled a sharp decline for risk assets. Bitcoin fell more than two percent on Sunday morning – dropping below one hundred thousand dollars for the first time since early May. Ethereum dropped more than eight percent.
Wedbush analysts argued in a Sunday note that Monday panic could create a buying opportunity; they wrote that the strike had long appeared inevitable. They described Iran’s nuclear program as the region’s most severe threat. If the attack has rendered that program inoperable, the analysts said, the market will shed a major risk.
U.S. equity futures on Monday could mirror the advance in Middle East shares on Sunday. Investors in Tel Aviv besides Cairo concluded that direct U.S. involvement would shorten the conflict. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange 35 Index rose 1.5 percent. The Egyptian EGX 30 rose 2.7 percent.
Oil prices are set to surge when crude futures open on U.S. exchanges Sunday evening. The scale of any Iranian reprisal will dictate the extent of the rally. Analysts expect Brent crude to open above ninety dollars per barrel.